Q&A with Marine Corps Marathon Winner Andrew Dumm

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Former Cavalier Andrew Dumm won the 33rd annual Marine Corps Marathon Sunday in Washington, D.C. Dumm was a 2007 graduate of Virginia and a Fulbright Scholar. Following a standout career on the Cavaliers’ track and field and cross country teams, Dumm spent a year in Jordan studying the relationship between the Jordanian media and US foreign policy.

Question: How does it feel to have won one of the top five most difficult marathons in the nation?
Dumm: I am elated. The Marine Corps Marathon really is a challenging course and it took a lot out of me. To have come out on top of a good field on an honest course makes the win that much sweeter. But, to be honest, I am still a bit surprised by the results.

Question: Is this the first marathon you’ve ever run?
Dumm: The Marine Corps was my first marathon. I will qualify that by saying that we did a lot of high-mileage and often high-intensity training over my years with the Virginia cross country and track and field teams, and as a result I had a really good long-term foundation to build on. That hard work at Virginia had a little more staying power than I expected, and more importantly taught a level of mental toughness needed to persevere in tough conditions. The 18-mile Sunday long runs were the norm with the Virginia distance squad, for example, so while a 26.2 mile Sunday race was incredibly challenging, it was not daunting as I toed the line.

Question: What was your training for it like?
Dumm: My training for the race was a little bit abbreviated; I came back to the U.S. after about 14 months in Jordan, where I ran only for fun and when I could make time. I put in some good miles when I got back in August, topping off with a week of 107 miles, and finished some solid workouts in the weeks before the race. I think my philosophy on training these days is a little more holistic than it could afford to be at Virginia. Without all the benefits of a very supportive athletics department, top tier coaching staff and attentive athletic training program, I had to write a more flexible training program around graduate courses at American University and days when my body told me to back off. I certainly think it worked out for the best, but I might change a few things for next time.

Question: You say next time, was this meant to be a recreational race or are you planning to train for bigger things after this? Did winning the marathon change your personal goals?
Dumm: Initially, I thought this race was going to be a good first step in a plan to train for USA Cross Country Championships in February. Plus, I had some family pressure/motivation to compete, so I threw my hat in despite a shortened training time frame. My long-term goal, though, has been, and continues to be, making the US Olympic marathon trials before the 2012 games. Just being able to line up and compete against some of our nation’s best in that race has been a dream of mine since graduating from Virginia. Winning the Marine Corps Marathon did two important things for that goal: it provided a really solid first foothold in what will be a longer journey to that end, and it raised my expectations of myself. If I could find success in my first marathon with perhaps less-than-ideal training, with a lot more work and some races between now and then, I know I have a decent shot of making it happen.

Question: The nation’s capitol is a landmark for most people, what was the scenery throughout your run like?
Dumm: I couldn’t ask for a better location for the day. Washington, D.C. is full of beautiful scenery like tree-lined boulevards and the tidal basin and a lot of inspiring landmarks like the US Capitol building. Of course, you don’t notice a lot more than mile markers and the road ahead of you when racing, but the best part of the scenic route was the crowd. With 30,000 runners, you can imagine how many spectators turned out to cheer not just for their friends and family, but for all of the runners. It didn’t hurt being the first runner to pass by, either, because most people had been waiting to scream and wave. The crowd really helped me through some difficult spots in the race. A lot of people heard my name from the pace car (and from my number-one fan on the course, my most enthusiastic oldest brother) and cheered me on by name, lifting my spirits quite a bit on some of the more lonely miles.

Question: What were some of your expectations heading into the marathon?
Dumm: I thought I was in shape to run about a 2:25. That’s roughly 5:30 per mile, and what my workouts seemed to point to for a good goal pace. My older brother Brian was shooting for the same time, and since he had two marathons under his belt, I figured working with him would be a good strategy. I just wanted to not blow up in the last legs of the race, and see if I could snag a top-10 finish. After catching the leaders at six miles in, I made a move at a secluded part of the course about 12 miles in. I was just trying to thin out the front pack and get a couple guys to come with me, but no one really responded like I thought they would, so I kept the hammer down and extended it to about a minute lead. Since it was my first marathon, I was ok if I ended up crashing late in the race. It was a pretty rash move, in the abstract. But, once the race became mine it became mine to lose, and I wasn’t going to let anybody take it from me without a fight. I pressed on, and although I hit a rough patch from 22-24 miles, I was able to finish strong for the win.

Question: Your father and brother were also running, with your brother finishing fifth. What was it like to have your family there with you?
Dumm: Knowing I would be joining my dad and older brother in the race was really important to me. Both are role models for me in their hard work and dedication. My dad served for 27 years in the US Air Force and continues to work in the Pentagon. This was his eighth Marine Corps marathon, and he still dropped three minutes from last year’s time. I’ve been chasing Brian, literally and figuratively, for as long as I can remember. Oddly enough, although we ran at the same high school (Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, Va.) and in NCAA competitions (Brian is a 2005 graduate of the US Air Force Academy currently stationed in England), the marathon was our first-ever race together. Knowing that was comforting, and – I admit – motivating. Brian ended up fifth overall and the second military finisher, shaving about two minutes from his time last year. My oldest brother Tim (UVa Computer Engineering in 2003) was also racing between points on the course to cheer, and my mom was on hand to welcome us all at the finish line. It was a great day to come together as a family.

Question: Following graduation you spent a year doing research in Jordan. What types of things have you been doing, or what does your research entail? What types of things did you learn overseas?
Dumm: Shortly after graduating from Virginia and less than a week after my last collegiate race (a 10K at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento), I boarded a plane for what would be 14 months in Jordan. I received a Fulbright Scholarship to continue my study of Arabic and carry out a research project on Jordanian journalism. I was looking at some emerging forms of digital news media in the kingdom, like political blogs and Internet news websites, and analyzing their role as an alternative voice to mainstream media in Jordan. The Fulbright experience is about a lot more than research, however, and I learned a lot about Jordan, the Middle East, and – maybe most importantly – myself in that year. I was forced to break out of a lot of comfort zones, embrace diversity (linguistic, cultural, culinary, political, religious, and otherwise), and challenge myself to take advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. I think those are all things that will serve me well as I continue my formal education and move into the professional world.

Question: What are you doing now that you are back in the states and in graduate school?
Dumm: I started a graduate program in Comparative and Regional Studies (Middle East) in the School of International Service at American University a few weeks after returning from Jordan, and I’m looking into some spring and summer internships and jobs right now. The University of Virginia really prepared me well for these next chapters – academically and personally and I can’t say enough about the role Virginia athletics played in that personal growth. I would like to think I’ve done a good job of seizing opportunities and working towards my goals, but I also know I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to enjoy a lot of those opportunities along the way. Part of my philosophy is eventually finding a way to give something back, so I continue to look to some form of government service down the road. And of course, I’ll keep running.